CNN: McCain DOES have an Ames straw poll organization to mobilize supporters - Sam Brownback’s!
Hat tip to the Washington Post’s Chris Cillizza. On “The Fix”, he analyzes a highly intriguing story from CNN’s Political Ticker. The gist of CNN’s report is that Sam Brownback has decided to place his own GOTV organization, in the service of Senator McCain. (So perhaps McCain has caught a windfall of political good luck.) Here’s an excerpt - about the first half - of the CNN story:
WEST DES MOINES, Iowa (CNN) — Sounds a bit funny at first listen, but it’s for real. And it’s a tactic that could pay off.
GOP presidential candidate Sam Brownback has about 45 interns at his Iowa headquarters. Twelve hours a day, six days a week, a lot of them do one thing. They call people in Iowa who, based on surveys, say they’re already supporting a candidate OTHER than Sam Brownback.
“I see here that you’re supporting John McCain, correct?” asked intern Kellen McBeth on the phone. “McCain has chosen not to participate in the straw poll, and we’d like you to show your support for his values by voting for Brownback.”
The Ames straw poll is an unofficial test of the Republican candidates and an Iowan tradition. Busloads of party members, mobilized by the rival camps, descend on the town of Ames for a day of entertainment, political talk – and voting. And when top tier candidates decide not to participate — former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani was the first, followed by Sen. John McCain – it makes the outcome of the contest even harder to interpret. Nonetheless, Brownback’s interns are offering free tickets to the event for anyone pledging to support to the Kansas senator. The tickets are $30 a piece, and campaigns get no discount as the event is a fundraiser for the Iowa Republican Party.
For the interns, the days are long, and they’re bound to feel even longer when sitting in a folding chair with a cell phone pressed to the ear. But their tenacity is apparent, despite the fact that some people simply don’t want to talk to them.
“Sometimes it’s a ‘yea,’ sometimes it’s ‘no,’ but you do what you have to do,” said intern Paul Crosby.
And that can be daunting – not least because Iowa voters are known to be hard to sway.
“Your responses matched up perfectly with Senator Brownback,” said intern Jason Lavoie on a call. “Have you heard of Senator Brownback? OK, can I send you some info on–” The call appears to end. “[They] hung up. You get that sometimes.”
But often, the message does get through.
“Generally it goes well, but some people don’t go [to the straw poll] if their candidate isn’t going to be in it,” said MacBeth. “My job is basically to talk to McCain supporters…and sort of convince them, because McCain isn’t particiapting, to support Brownback. They do share a lot of positions…pro-life, gay marriage, and victory in Iraq, and [I say to them] ‘Well, you may support McCain, so you might as well support Brownback in the straw poll.”…
You can read the original article by clicking Brownback: Support McCain by voting for me.
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